


Ghosts of Skyfall

by Venstar



Category: James Bond (Craig movies)
Genre: M/M, MI6 Cafe, October Prompt Challenge, halloween fic, sp00qy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-30
Updated: 2018-10-30
Packaged: 2019-08-09 12:23:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,205
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16449896
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Venstar/pseuds/Venstar
Summary: From an internet prompt: On Halloween night, lovers get to come back and spend the evening together one more time. One couple from the Roaring Twenties decides to come back from the grave to help their extreme nerd great-grandchild or the kid will never get married.  HOWEVER.  we changed it to Bond as the great grandchild vs making q the great grandchild because you know bond has the emotional maturity of a peanut.  boy needs help.  seriously.  don't tell him i said that though okay.  poor thing.





	Ghosts of Skyfall

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pettikotes](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pettikotes/gifts).



> Here is my entry for MI6 Cafe's Occult October challenge, a...SP00QY fic aaaaaaahahahahahaaa. boo. Pettikotes and I teamed up to bring you something fun and burtonesque okay. OKAY WE TRIED U WRITING JUDGEMENTAL BURTON FANS WE TRIED OKAY. give me my participation award and no one gets hurt. so yeah, this was a total collab where we tossed ideas back and forth and Petti had an idea of what style they wanted to art and I was like you know what that's awesome and I hope I can deliver. so enjoy and get off my porch, you crazy kids.
> 
> aRT BY PETTIKOTES http://pettikotes.tumblr.com/

Night had fallen on October 31st, slowly throwing the landscape into darkness. The small village near the great burnt shell of the Skyfall estate still stood in its shadows, its villagers continuing as they had always been even after the great conflagration of 2012. Stories of that night were still whispered from person to person, children dared each other to pass through the crumbled pedestals guarding the entrance to the site of utter devastation. The only building that survived the brutal attack was the small stone chapel, surrounded by a wrought iron gate and the headstones of long-forgotten inhabitants of Skyfall. Lairds and Ladies lay buried alongside their children, dogs, and cats. If you were truly brave you might attempt to spend the night within the crumbling structure. But it was no secret. Skyfall was haunted and on this night for ghouls and scares, the pumpkins were lit and a fog was rolling in. The village was on edge, and skin tingled on arms and legs, the hair on the backs of their necks stood on end. Something was coming, that they could be sure of.

A shadow blew across the full moon as a cold wind blew through the Scottish moors, heavy with dampness, it’s fingers brushing against the heather. The bell of a church rang out, it’s last bell tolling six, the sound hung in the air as the winds snatched it up and carried it along. The bright orange flames coming from lit jack-o-lanterns guttered briefly as the wind stole their strength. A small herd of deer stopped in their grazing. Dark eyes darting around, ears swiveling searching for the danger. The wind enveloped them and something moved within the wind. The deer broke into a thunderous gallop, covering the dark rough ground with their long strides. The wind chased after them until they had passed the rusty gates of the small churchyard cemetery at the edge of the Skyfall estate.

Maniacal laughter rolled out of the chapel as it began to fill with a faint blue light, deteriorating into deep, dark chuckles.

“John!” A scolding voice rang out over the laughter, which was abruptly cut off. The lights grew brighter as a second joined the first.

Leaves and dust swirled around the old chapel, its floor stained with the blood of those who had fought and died there years ago. Stains that wouldn’t quite go away as the old stone and wood had absorbed them. The lights shone brighter as they slowly swirled together to form the shape of a man wearing a pinstriped suit, with dark hair, a strong chin with a light of mischief in his eyes. The shape that formed next to him had a lighter hair color that was cut into a bob, topped with a beaded headband. A string of pearls wrapped twice hung loose and ghostly around her neck in the afterlife

The ghost man tugged at the high collar of his shirt. “Ach, Mary don’t be spoilin’ my fun!”

“I’ll be spoilin’ your fun all night if you don’t help me get down to the business at hand!” Mary crossed her arms over her chest and glared her husband into submission.

John wasn’t having any of it. He shook his finger in her face. “Mary, he’s a grown lad! He can make his own choices.”

“Can he? Can he? I don’t see him making any choices but to hide his feelings!” Mary drifted towards the altar, gazing wistfully at it. Her bottom half in perpetual shadow, there were no feet to be seen. “A wedding in the Skyfall chapel is just what he needs.”

“You can’t be thinking to interfere more than we already have!” John hissed at her, moving sharply to her side.

“You’re the former Laird of Skyfall and if you want to see this line continue, then by God, you’ll help me!”

“This line won’t ‘continue’ if he’s into the fancy men he prefers. OW!” John stepped back as Mary snapped her fingers at him, causing a spark to flare between them.

“My precious great-grandchild WILL have his heart’s desire, by hook or by crook we WILL help him achieve it!”

“Mary, darling. Are you sure he wants us involved in the matters of his human heart? I don’t mind a a wee bit of teasing once a year, but...ah ah, don’t look at me like that.”

“All will be had and all will be done in the matters of the hearts born within the halls of Skyfall!” Mary proclaimed fiercely.

“He don’t live in Skyfall, Mary, there’s not even a Skyfall left! Y’have to be joking. You don’t even know where he is. Ah, what have you got in mind lass, I see that look in your face.”

“We have this one night. He’s going to make a decision.”

“Mary-”

“IT’S BEEN DECADES THAT WE’VE BEEN DOING THIS AND IT WILL BE DONE TONIGHT!”

John held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Fine, but it wasn’t my idea.”

 

* * *

 

 

The wind blew cold through the streets of London, catching the edge of Bond’s overcoat and the paper bag swinging from his hand. A jack-o-lantern flickered as he passed by. He paid it no mind until he noticed that they continued to flicker each time he walked by one. Oh no. He paused.

“Jaaaaaaaaaaaaaames.”

He closed his eyes. No, it couldn’t be. Each year he hoped it would be the last, but no. Here they were again. Trying to convince him of the inconvincible. Ever since he could remember, his Great Grandparents would visit him on Halloween. Sometimes popping up while he was in the midst of a tryst or a mission. It was most inconvenient. To the point, that on October 31st, if he was home, he made sure he was either very, very drunk and without a partner. If he was out on a mission, well...country first, Great Grandparents last. The past few years, however, had brought a subtle nuance to his life and it was very difficult to avoid seeing a certain someone on October 31st.

Time off from missions was rare and if he was home during that period, he would set aside his worries about visiting ghosts and spend the time with someone he really did care about. The first time he had declined to see Q on Halloween had put a tone of such loss and confusion so dreadful in Q’s voice, that he couldn’t bring himself to follow through with it. He had promised that he would show up as soon as he was able to spend that time with him, Great Grandparents be damned. Instead, his Great Grandparents were ecstatic.

Mary had gone on and on about the flat and how adorable Q was and his cats and how handsome he would look standing all windswept at the churchyard gates. That’s when Bond knew he was in deep shit. It didn’t help that John approved of Q’s tea choices and his cardigans. They returned year after year, to go wherever he took Q on their dates. Restaurants, museums, theatres. It was like having ghostly chaperones.

“Leave room for Jesus, dear.” Mary would say.

“He’s bigger than Jesus.” John had said and then a lecture from Mary on the appropriateness of his reply had ensued.

They were happier than ever with his choice and egged him on to make it permanent. Last year Mary had proclaimed Q her favorite and that James MUST make him part of the family. John had given a grumbling approval. They wouldn’t leave until he had kissed Q that evening. He would have taken them up on that bribe sooner if it gained him more privacy that eve.

This year...

“We’ve been watching you.” It was a soft lilting feminine voice that spoke.

“What do you mean WE?” A surly voice followed the woman speaking.

Bond’s eyes narrowed as he came to a stop, the pumpkins stopped flickering and strange blue lights filled the space. “I don’t need your help.”

“Course you don’t, so we’ll be going.” The man said.

“Yes, you do. So we’ll be staying.” The woman said firmly, she finally manifested within the light. “We know how you feel about that darling boy. You walk these streets often enough. We know where you are and who is nearby.”

John spoke pointedly to Mary. “Mary, you know where YOU are and you know who is nearby. Stop dragging me into this.”

“John. For better or for worse, so help me and if you don’t, I will kill you in the afterlife and make you suffer.”

John sighed. “More than I’m suffering now?”

“Stop that, both of you.” Bond hissed.

“You’re on his street,” Mary said. “You’re carrying his favorite type of tea. Don’t tell me to stop. Keep going, we’ll help you. Say one more word John and I’ll end you.”

John let out a long-suffering sigh. “I tried to tell her.”

Mary came to stand in front of Bond. She brought a hand up to stroke his face, her hand passed through him, she looked distressed. “You can’t stay away and you visit often. You have for the past few years. It means something. He means something.”

“It means they’re friends Mary.”

“You are supposed to be helping!” Mary hissed at John.

John simply shrugged. “Fine. Lad, propose to the...other lad, so I can go home and scare the village folk.”

“Tsk, John!”

“You said to be helpful. Buy him a proper ring, not those hard plastic ones that come in those coin machines. Treat him well...ooooohhhh!” John began to fade away.

“Come back here.” Mary rolled her eyes. “He’s so dramatic.”

“I appreciate the effort, I do. However…” Bond’s voice faded away and John faded back in.

“However…” John said curiously after a lengthy pause.

Bond gripped the paper bag harder. “I don’t live a soft life. I haven’t in a long time. There is nothing of me left for him, not even if I had a proper ring.”

“Seems to me he don’t live a soft life either?” John said, a twinkle in his eyes. “Has to put up with your bumbling arse fumbling about your job and saving said arse from time to time.”

“He cares about you,” Mary said. “That’s what John means.”

“No one else I know would put up with you who wasn’t dead already. Get you a live one. Make an honest man out of him.”

“Or we’ll haunt you forever.” Mary put in her threat.

Bond just stared at her with some bemusement. “Is that what you’re currently doing? Haunting me until I marry?”

“Yes, now hurry up and marry him so we can stop haunting you. Give her some great-grandchildren to haunt or something.”

“Come along, James. You will propose to him tonight, whether or not you have a ring picked out. It will happen. We will see that it happens. There will be no fornicating tonight until he says yes to wedding you.”

“No more bedding before the wedding, no more bedding before the wedding!” John sang and gave a little ghostly jig.

Due to his dreaded expected, guests halting his progress, Bond arrived at Q’s place a little bit tardy and accompanied by the ghosts of his ancestors' hell-bent on seeing to his happiness. He could have gone home, he could have refused to go one step further, except he knew he had no control over them and he didn’t feel like abandoning Q...ever, so he knocked on Q’s door and presented him with his small bag of gifts. Tea from Q’s favorite shop and the broken hard drive he salvaged from the Columbian cartel he had been toying with that week. A small smile lifted the corners of Q’s mouth as he turned the hard drive over. He pressed two soft kisses to Bond’s mouth in appreciation of the gifts. Mary nearly swooned with satisfaction. She made shooing motions at him. Bond made cutting motions across his throat when Q wasn’t looking as he settled the bag on his kitchen counter.

“Tell him he’s handsome and you missed him.” John offered as a suggestion.

Bond glared at him.

“Go on, do it!”

Q snagged Bond’s hand and led him through into the living room. “I know you don’t like Halloween, so I ordered your favorite foods and movie for the night. We can hide from the trick or treaters and watch old cop films and eat until you give birth to a food baby.”

Bond rolled his eyes. “So romantic, what a perfect night in.”

“Don’t like Halloween, huh?” John asked, winking at Bond.

“Oh look at the place setting! A veritable picnic on a blanket, how romantic! James, be romantic!”

Bond stopped his eyes from rolling, but barely. However, the atmosphere Q had created with the lights off, flickering candles and a black and white movie playing on the television really did create something special. He stopped as Q led him forward.

“What?”

“You’re something special.”

“Hmm, so are you, secret agent man.” Q narrowed his eyes. “What do you want?”

John threw back his head and laughed as Bond pulled Q forward into a bone-crushing embrace. “You.”

 


End file.
